GE seeds set loose in Britain

LONDON - British farmers are unknowingly growing genetically engineered (GE) crops after buying contaminated seed from Canada, says the Government.

The canola produced is used in foods ranging from chocolate to ice-cream. These are being sold to consumers as GE-free products, despite strict rules on food labelling and uncertainty about possible hazards associated with the technology.

Advanta Seeds UK, which imported the seeds to Europe, said it informed the Government last month of the contamination.

Advanta is a 50-50 venture between Anglo-Swedish group AstraZeneca and Dutch cooperative Cosun.

The oilseed rape which produced the contaminated seeds was cross-pollinated in Canada by a GE crop growing in a nearby field.

The Food Standards Agency said the seeds appeared to have been affected by a Monsanto GE rapeseed crop.

Campaigners have long warned that pollen cannot be contained once GE-tainted crops are planted.

"Once the toothpaste is out of the tube, so to speak, it is very hard to put it back in," said a spokesman for Friends of the Earth.

Environmental pressure group Greenpeace reacted with fury.

"We are very angry. It is such a clear example of the Government not siding with the consumer or the environment, or even European law, but jumping to the defence of biotech," said Jim Thomas, a Greenpeace food campaigner.

The Government expressed concern that contaminated seeds had made their way to Britain, where it is illegal to grow GE crops for commercial use, and vowed to introduce measures to keep future seed shipments pure.

Junior agriculture minister Baroness Hayman said: "There is no risk to public health or the environment. However, the issue of seed purity is a serious one."

The farmer and his customer did not expect to find that a crop of conventional seed contained an unexpected or unacceptable level of GE material, she said.

Advanta said the GE level was so small it was almost beyond the limit of detection.

"Advanta believes [GE] crops will provide valuable benefits in the future. However, it is sensitive to the fact that some have genuine concerns about the technology."

British farmers sowed about 9000 ha with the affected stocks last year, and about 4700ha this northern spring. About 500,000ha of oilseed rape are grown annually in Britain.

It is the first time, as far as the public is aware, that GE crops have been grown in Britain outside the clutch of farm-scale trials operating with Government approval.

The trials were set up as opposition to so-called "Frankenstein Foods" grew.

- REUTERS

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